


Listen to Me

by Cantatrice18



Category: The Secret of Moonacre (2008)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Communication, F/M, Happy Ending, Rewrite, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-04
Updated: 2014-05-04
Packaged: 2018-01-21 20:20:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1562777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cantatrice18/pseuds/Cantatrice18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angered by Loveday's supposed betrayal, Benjamin flies into a rage, but Loveday refuses to run. Through the power of her words alone, she tries to prove the sincerity of the love she feels. </p><p> </p><p>A rewrite of the flower scene.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Listen to Me

“Doesn’t love change everything?”

“No, my dear, but hate does.”

As he threw the plant out the window he heard her sob. He reached for another pot and hurled it to the ground, then another, but suddenly he felt hands on his forearm, restraining him. Loveday, unable to bear the thought of her precious plants being damaged, had flung herself between him and the flowers like a mother protecting her child. “Benjamin, please, don’t hurt them!”

He shook his head, a sneer twisting his features as he pried himself free of her grasp. “I’ll do what I please. This is still my house – you didn’t quite manage to own it, much as you invaded it with your flowers and music. Get out now while you still can.”

He whirled and strode over to the door, but she got there first, moving with surprising speed and blocking the doorway with her body. “Stop it, Benjamin.”

A knot of rage seemed to form in his chest and he raised his arm as though to strike her. She inhaled sharply, but did not move out of the way. “Hit me, then, if that’s what you think is right, but for the sake of everything we’ve shared together, listen to me.”

He lowered his hand slowly, looking at her with suspicion. “Speak, then.”

She took a deep breath, straightening up so that she appeared as regal and elegant as she’d been before their fight began. Her eyes met his and there was a strength of purpose in their depths that he’d not seen before. “I never lied to you.” She quickly held up a hand to stifle his protests. “Let me speak, then you can judge. I never claimed to be from another family, or that I was an orphan. But I see how you think I’ve deceived you. You must understand, when we met that night I had no idea you were a Merryweather. I saw you only for yourself, and the nameless man I first met at that party was the man I fell in love with. When I found out your true lineage I was beside myself, torn between guilt at the thought of my love betraying my family’s honor and pain at the thought that you might hate me for who I am. I should have told you right then, the moment I learned, but I was too much of a coward. You see, I already loved you, and I couldn’t bear the idea of you discarding me for a fault beyond my control. So in that way you’re right: I did betray your trust. But it was only through my desire to be with you, that was my only motive, I swear it.” She glanced downward and he saw her begin ever so slightly to tremble. “Benjamin, please. You’re all I have now. I gave up my family ties – or rather, they were severed without my choosing – when I revealed to my father that I was engaged to you. I left behind everything I knew and loved because my love for you is stronger. It consumes me, makes me unable to think of anything else. If you truly cannot find it in your heart to love me despite my family, then I will leave. But ask yourself whether an ancient feud is worth destroying the peace we have found.”

As she spoke he felt his anger fade away, and he began to observe things about her. He noticed how the soft light from the windows illuminated the gold of her hair, and the gentle slope of her pale shoulders. He inhaled the light perfume that was hers and hers alone, noticing with a twinge of shame how it mixed with the sharp scent of earth from the shattered flowerpots around them. Without even meaning to he reached forward, pulling her to him and caressing her back. Her body was as delicate as a flower, as beautiful as any woman he’d ever met, but she was so much more than that. Her soul was the most beautiful thing about her, and it was that unique part of her being he’d fallen in love with. He’d always been jaded and cynical, even as a child it seemed, but she made him forget that and see the world as a magical place. She taught him to enjoy life, to find satisfaction and pleasure in the littlest things. And her past… well, did it really matter what kind of family she’d been born into? She was his now – or would be soon. He held her a little tighter, feeling her warm breath against his shoulder, and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Nothing is worth losing you. Nothing at all.”

They stood in the doorway, content to simply hold one another, until the sun had nearly set. The wedding took place the next day, a small ceremony with only a few family friends. Loveday was radiant, all the more so because she was free of the secret that had burdened her for so long. Afterward Benjamin would consider that day the beginning of his new life: a life with no secrets, only pure and honest love.


End file.
